Battle Chess

Infobox VG
title = Battle Chess


developer = Interplay
publisher = Interplay
designer = Todd Camasta, Michael Quarles, Jayesh J. Patel, Bruce Schlickbernd
released = 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994
genre = Board game
modes = Single player, two player
platforms = 3DO, Amiga, Amiga CDTV, Amiga CD32, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, NES, Mac OS, Acorn Archimedes

"Battle Chess" is a computer game version of chess in which the chess pieces come to life and battle one another when capturing. The game itself was inspired by the 3D chess sequences from "" and "Futureworld".

The game was released for the Commodore Amiga and subsequently on the 3DO, MS-DOS, Apple IIgs, Commodore 64, Amiga CDTV, CD32, Atari ST, Apple Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes, FM Towns, and Nintendo Entertainment System.

Features

There are 35 animations (over 4 MB of animation), including movement, prelude to battle, and the combinations of battle itself (the latter often being rather brutal). Digitized sound is utilized in the DOS version for all battle sound effects and is played through the PC speaker, without the need for a sound card, using a technique akin to RealSound. The rook, for example, turns into a rock monster and kills a pawn by smashing his head. Some battle sequences like Knight versus Knight or King versus Bishop are direct references to the black knight fight in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the short battle between Indiana Jones and a swordsman in "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

The game can be played in a 2D version with no animations, and the Amiga CDTV version features a fully-voiced introduction describing the movements of the pieces for the benefit of beginners.

The game could be played against a human opponent (by hotseat, or by null modem or over a local area network in some ports) or against the computer's artificial intelligence (AI). The game has an opening library from over 30,000 moves (which weren't available for the C64 and Apple versions).

Reception

The Amiga version received favourable reviews from magazines due its comical battle sequences which were advanced (for the time) in terms of graphics, animation and sound. The German game magazine ASM, however, criticized the weak chess AI. [http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=584]

Magazine ratings:

* AUI - 9 out of 10 [Battle Chess review from AUI Vol 2 No 12 (Dec 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack ]
* Commodore User - 85% [Battle Chess review from Commodore User (Nov 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack ]
* ST/Amiga Format - 85% [Battle Chess review from ST Amiga Format 6 (Dec 1988) - Amiga Magazine Rack ]
* Computer and Video Games - 84% [Battle Chess review from Computer + Video Games 87 (Jan 1989) - Amiga Magazine Rack ]

Over a period of time "Battle Chess" spawned imitators such as Star Wars Chess and . Interplay won "Best Graphics Achievement In A Non-Graphics Product" from Software Publishers Association (later renamed to Software and Information Industry Association) for their efforts. [ [http://www.mobygames.com/game/battle-chess/cover-art/gameCoverId,25753/ Battle Chess - Cover Art - MobyGames ] ]

"Battle Chess"'s producer Brian Fargo expressed his fondness for the game in a 2006 interview, although he added that he did not think there would be much of an audience for it today. [ [http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=13641 inXile Entertainment Update - News and Siteseeing ] ]

Sequels and legacy

"Battle Chess" was the first title developed and published by Interplay themselves after ending their relationship with Electronic Arts, besides Neuromancer.

Three years later in 1991 a sequel was released titled ' based on Xiangqi. Following a year later the last sequel called "Battle Chess 4000" was released, which spoofed science fiction movies and television series (for example a battle sequence involves the monolith from ').

See also

* Computer chess

References

External links

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